Modular motorized wheel chair

ABSTRACT

The specification discloses a motorized wheelchair which can be quickly and easily disassembled into separate lightweight components. The separate components can be conveniently stacked to minimize space requirements when transporting the chair from one location to another.

[ July 29, 1975 United States Patent [1 1 Miltenburg et al.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 1 MODULAR MOTORIZED WHEELCHAIR [75] Inventors: Edward W. Miltenburg, Newport 297/D1G. 4 297/440 X180/65 297/D1G. 4 X

2,798,565 7/1957 Rosenthal et al. 3,321,239 5/1967Cosper............................ 3,613,813 10/1971Biddle.............. 3,749,192 7/1973 Karchak et al.

Primary ExaminerM. Henson Wood, .Ir. Assistant Examiner-Gene A. Church[22] Filed:

ABSTRACT Us. CLWW180/6.5;297/DIG.4; go/D163; The specification disclosesa motorized wheelchair which can be quickly and easily disassembled intosepee 0 Pam w o m ceo r. i m m w 0 t6 6 h hw T & .m o "S0 e P .W s O n Pa m u o C nf. LE h .w m eeS wbm t O hn .w m n m mm tu mm anwb mWO 3 mmO0 m" m Tm ram 8 WSW LM9 C Ld hm N 55 3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures MODULARMOTORIZED WHEEL CHAIR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A disabled individualwho has temporarily or permanently lost the use of his legs must usuallydepend upon a mechanical substitute, such as a wheelchair, to movehimself about. Most prior art wheelchairs are manually operated; andrequire considerable exertion to negotiate minor hills or traveldistances Moreover. in a situation where the individual has both a legand arm impairment, the manually operated wheelchair can be quitedifficult to propel. As a consequence, a number of motor poweredwheelchairs hav been marketed. These vehicles normally utilize twoseparate driving motors. One of the drive motors is connected to theleft rear wheel by a pulley and the other is connected to the right rearwheel in the same manner. Steering is effected by an electronic systemunder control of the operator. The system applies power simultaneouslyto both wheels to move the chair forward, backward, or to rotate thechair in a circle. Power can also be applied to one wheel alone to turnthe vehicle left or right.

While the conventional motorized wheelchair obviates the aforementionedproblems of the manually powered device, it has several shortcomings.Paramount among these is the additional weight. Such wheelchairs aretypically designed to fold up so that they can be transported in thetrunk of an automobile or the back of a station wagon. But theadditional weight imposed by the battery, motors and structural membersmake it difficult for most persons to lift or move them about. Considerfor example, a typical situation involving a middle-aged wife having aninvalid husband. Whenever they travel by auto, they must always seek theaid of a third person to lift the folded motorized chair IN and OUT ofthe auto. What is actually desired is'a motorized wheelchair which'canbe easily disassembled into lightweight components for transportationand then easily reassembled.

A secondary disadvantage of the conventional folding wheelchair isdiscomfort. In order to facilitate its collapsibility, it has beennecessary to make the seat portion relatively flat so as to severelylimit the amount of contour and padding. Considering that persons whoare confined to wheelchairs spend must of their life in this seat, theimportance of comfort will be readily appreciated.

Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide amodular wheelchair which can be easily assembled and disassembled.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a wheelchairwhich consists of a number of modular components, all of which are of aweight and size such that they can be easily lifted and managed bypersons of moderate strength.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a modularwheelchair having a comfortable and contoured seat.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be obviousfrom the detailed description of a preferred embodiment given hereinbelow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The aforementioned objects are realized by thepresent invention which comprises a wheelchair consisting of fiveprimary modules, namely; a left side module in- DESCRIPTION OF THEDRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the modular wheelchair as itwould appear when fully assembled.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the chair illustrating thevarious modules and how they connect.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Adverting to the drawings, andparticularly FIG. 2. a preferred embodiment of the invention comprises awheelchair, which includes five separate modular components, namely; aleft side module. a right side module, a battery support frame, a seatback and a seat bottom. The left side module is comprised of a frame 1,a drive wheel 2, a castor mounted front wheel 3, a motor 4 and drivepulley 5 which is tightened by the overcenter toggle arrangement 6 viahand lever 7, and rotable foot rest 8. The right side module includesthe corresponding elements 11-18 respectively. The battery support frameincludes platform 21 which is attached to the two frame members 20 and21. Both the back and bottom of seat components 22 and 23 have recessedpadded depressions (24 and 25 respectively) to effect what is commonlyknown as a bucket seat.

Each of the modular components include connecting elements whichfunction to interlock the modules so as to form the assembled wheelchairshown in FIG. 1. For example, the seat bottom 23, has two projections 30and 31 which are adapted to slip into the holes 32 and 33 respectivelyof the side frames 1 and 11. The yoke 34 on the left side seat bottom 23is spaced to straddle the frame 1 at the point indicated by the numeral35. A corresponding yoke on the right side of seat bottom 23 (not shown)functions to straddle the frame 11 at the point indicated by numeral 36.The projections 40 and 41 on the bottom of the seat back 22 are spacedto slip into the accordant holes 42 and 43 respectively. The projections50 and 51 on bar 21 are adapted to slip into the openings 52 and 53, thebattery support frame being restricted from lateral motion by theflanges 54 and 55 which slightly overhang the side frames 1 and 11 asindicated by the numeral 60.

The ease of assembly and disassembly will be evident from the drawings.There are no knobs to turn or screws to tighten. The seat back 22 andseat bottom 23 can be removed by simply lifting upwards. The batterysupport and battery can be removed pulling forward to clear projections50 and 51 and then upwardly.

An experimental unit has been fabricated using hollow, stainless steelframework. Exclusive of the battery, no modular component weighed morethan 22 lbs. Each module could be easily lifted and handled by a personof moderate strength. Moreover, the modular coupling is designed so thateach module is essentially thin and flat. The modules can be stacked oneon top of the other with a total height of less than 18 inches.

As previously mentioned, the conventional folding wheelchair cannotutilize the deep comfortable bucket style seats. Nor can they be easilydisassembled but must generally be moved as a complete unit. The presentinvention, on the other hand, is easily taken apart and assembled.When'itis assembled, as shown in FIG.

1, it "is considerably more comfortable than the flat, lightly paddedfoldable wheelchairs.

It will be evident that the basic concept of the invention is notlimited to motorized wheelchairs. It could be used with equalapplicability on any manually operable device which, on occasion, mustbe transported from place to place. Nor are the teachings of theinvention restricted to the particular modular arrangement shown.Moreover, the modules may be made to connect to one another in a varietyof ways other than in the particular manner demonstrated. Thus, althougha preferred embodiment has been shown and described, it will beunderstood that the invention is not limited thereto, and that numerouschanges, modifications, and substitutions may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. A wheelchair comprising:

a left side module including a left frame, a left rear drive wheelhaving a horizontal axis of rotation and a castor mounted front wheel;

a first motor and a means for connecting the output of said first motorto said left rear drive wheel;

a right side module including a right frame, a right rear drive wheelhaving a horizontal axis of rotation and a castor mounted front wheel;

a second motor and a means for connecting the output of said secondmotor to the right rear drive wheel;

a seat comprised of a bucket shaped back module and a bucket shapedbottom module;

means for attaching said seat to said left and right frames so as toenable said seat to be easily and quickly detached from said frames saidmeans comprising:

a pair of substantially vertical elongated projections on the bottom ofsaid bucket shaped back module, said projections being spaced apart soas to be substantially coplanar with said left and right frames, and;

a member of said left frame having an opening adapted to receive one ofsaid bucket seat back projections, and; I

a member of said right frame having an opening adapted to receive theother of said bucket seat back projections;

at least one pair of substantially vertical elongated projections on thebottom of said bucket shaped bottom, said projections being spaced apartso as to be substantially coplanar with said left and right side frames,and;

means for attaching said battery support platform comprises:

a pair of elongated substantially horizontal projections on said supportplatform and a member of said left frame having an opening adapted toreceive one of said projections and a member of said right frame, havingan opening adapted to receive the other of said projections.

3. A wheelchair comprising:

a left side module including a left frame, a left rear drive wheelhaving a horizontal axis of rotation. and a castor mounted front wheel;

a right side module including a right frame, a right rear drive wheelhaving a horizontal axis of rotation and a castor mounted front wheel;

a'seat comprised of a back module and a bottom module; I meansforattaching said seat to said left and right frames so as to enablesaid seat to be easily and quickly detached from said frames, said meanscomprising: i

a pair of substantially vertical elongated projections on the bottom ofsaid back module, said projections being spaced apart so as to besubstantially coplanar with said left and right frames and;

a member of said left frame having an opening adapted to receive one ofsaid back module projections, and; i

a member of said right frame having an opening adapted to receive theother of said back module projections;

at least one pair of substantially vertical elongated projections on thebottom of said bottom module, said projections being spaced apart so asto be substantially coplanar with said left and right side frames, and

a member of said left frame having an opening adapted to receive one ofsaid bottom module projections;

a member of said right frame having an opening adapted to receive theother of said bottom module projections.

1. A wheelchair comprising: a left side module including a left frame, aleft rear drive wheel having a horizontal axis of rotation and a castormounted front wheel; a first motor and a means for connecting the outputof said first motor to said left rear drive wheel; a right side moduleincluding a right frame, a right rear drive wheel having a horizontalaxis of rotation and a castor mounted front wheel; a second motor and ameans for connecting the output of said second motor to the right reardrive wheel; a seat comprised of a bucket shaped back module and abucket shaped bottom module; means for attaching said seat to said leftand right frames so as to enable said seat to be easily and quicklydetached from said frames said means comprising: a pair of substantiallyvertical elongated projections on the bottom of said bucket shaped backmodule, said projections being spaced apart so as to be substantiallycoplanar with said left and right frames, and; a member of said leftframe having an opening adapted to receive one of said bucket seat backprojections, and; a member of said right frame having an opening adaptedto receive the other of said bucket seat back projections; at least onepair of substantially vertical elongated projections on the bottom ofsaid bucket shaped bottom, said projections being spaced apart so as tobe substantially coplanar with said left and right side frames, and; amember of said left frame having an opening adapted to receive one ofsaid bucket seat bottom projections; a member of said right frame havingan opening adapted to receive the other of said bucket seat backprojections; a battery support platform and means for attaching saidbattery support platform to said left and right frames so as to permitsaid battery support platform to be easily and quickly removed from saidframes.
 2. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said means forattaching said battery support platform comprises: a pair of elongatedsubstantially horizontal projections on said support platform and amember of said left frame having an opening adapted to receive one ofsaid projections and a member of said right frame having an openingadapted to receive the other of said projections.
 3. A wheelchaircomprising: a left side module including a left frame, a left rear drivewheel having a horizontal axis of rotation, and a castor mounted frontwheel; a right side module including a right frame, a right rear drivewheel having a horizontal axis of rotation and a castor mounted frontwheel; a seat comprised of a back module and a bottom module; means forattaching said seat to said left and right frames so as to enable saidseat to be easily and quickly detached from said frames, said meanscomprising: a pair of substantially vertical elongated projections onthe bottom of said back module, said projections being spaced apart soas to be substantially coplanar with said left and right frames and; amember of said left frame having an opening adapted to receive one ofsaid back module projections, and; a member of said right frame havingan opening adapted to receive the other of said back module projections;at least one pair of substantially vertical elongated projections on thebottom of said bottom module, said projections being spaced apart so asto be substantially coplanar with said left and right side frames, and amember of said left frame having an opening adapted to receive one ofsaid bottom module projections; a member of said right frame having anopening adapted to receive the other of said bottom module projections.